No Gr 11 intakes for Kerevat next year

By ELIZABETH VUVU
KEREVAT National High School will not enrol any new Grade 11 next year due to the deteriorating state of facilities at the school.
This situation was given weight after a recent health inspection last month condemning facilities including sewerage system, teacher’s houses and classrooms.
The national education board (NEB) met last week to make this decision and the education secretary, Dr Joseph Pagelio, is expected to brief the Minister James Marape.
NEB member representing the Education Department, Anthony Tsora said as far as they were concerned, there would be no classes next year and the minister was the only one that would make the final decision if the school would be closed.
He said all teachers had been redeployed to other schools and only three would remain at school to act as caretakers next year.
He said most teacher’s houses and classrooms would be pulled down and it would be pointless to keep the teachers back at the school.
Immediate funding of K2 million has been made available by the Education Department to do maintenance at the school with another K10 million which was allocated by the National Government in the 2011 budget.
The East New Britain provincial government is mindful of the fact that this situation would greatly affect the selected Grade 11 intakes especially from schools in the province.
Governor Leo Dion said as a contingency, he acknowledged the provincial education board and the provincial and district administration of Rabaul and its JDP&BPC for moving swiftly to build additional classrooms at Malaguna Technical High School (Maltech) to cater for at least two additional classes of Grade 11 next year.